I was a right Charlie on TV says champ

Charlie Flynn shows off his gold medal to his Royal Mail workmates in Netherton.

Commonwealth Games golden boy Charlie Flynn admitted this week he ‘cringed’ when he watched his post-final BBC television interview.

The 20-year-old Newarthill lightweight put on a magnificent performance in the ring to secure gold at The Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday- then endeared himself to millions of viewers with his down to earth comments to anchorman John Inverdale.

Flynn, a Royal Mail worker, had the audience in stitches with his declaration that the ‘mailman has delivered’. He spoke of how he feared he would ‘drap deid’ with his sterling efforts and let the world know how much he owed his mum for ‘doing all my washing’.

Yesterday (Tuesday) the boxer visited his workmates at Royal Mail’s distribution centre in Netherton and admitted he is still coming to terms with his new fame which has seen him give interviews to global television stations.

Grinning, he said: “I cringed when I saw the BBC interview. I can hardly watch it. I can’t believe I said all those mad things.

“I must be telling too many bedtime stories to my wee brother and sister.”

Flynn is the third oldest of seven children - he has three brothers and three sisters - and says far from treating him as a star they are all just ‘clowning around’ with him.

He paid tribute to Newarthill Amateur Boxing Club where he was a member for many years and, in particular, coach Wull Downie.

Flynn said: “My big brother joined the club when he was 10. I was seven and was not allowed in, but I used to sneak in the back and eventually they let me stay.

“Wull put a lot of time and effort into coaching me. A lot of people might think a young boxer won’t stay very long, but Wull plugged away and I thank him for that.

“I was sparring with 10 to 12-year-olds when I was only eight, so the people at Newarthill knew I was quite good.”

Flynn admitted it was great to ‘let off steam’ after the pressure of competing and living in the athletes’ village for more than a week.

He said: “I’m not much of drinker so it was just a beer or two with the boys.

“However, I’ve been eating all sorts like pizza and Chinese takeaways, so I’ll have to settle down soon before I end up with the middleweights!”